Putnam opened his round with a chip-in birdie at the first and followed that
with another gain at the second to move to 14-under and push his lead to two
over Pampling, who birdied the first, second and fourth to reach minus-12.

Putnam started to pull further ahead with birdies at the fourth and sixth.
After parring his next two holes, he capped an outward 31 with a birdie at the
ninth to reach 17-under and claim a 5-stroke lead over Pampling and Goggin.

Goggin had birdied the second, fifth and eighth around an eagle at the fourth
to meet Pampling at 12-under. He would trade a birdie at the 15th with a bogey
at the 16th to end there.

Pampling snapped a streak of seven straight pars with a birdie at the 12th to
cut Putnam's lead to four, but Putnam followed in the final group with a
birdie at the 12th to regain his 5-stroke advantage.

No one would get any closer than that from there, as Putnam closed his bogey-
free round with birdies at the 15th and 18th to stretch his lead to seven
entering the final round.

"I just started playing some really good golf," said Putnam. "I didn't drive
it perfectly, but I missed it in spots that I was able to recover from and
still hit at the green and at the pin."

Pampling countered a bogey at the 16th with a birdie at the 17th while Johnson
had six birdies during his bogey-free round to earn his share of second place.

NOTES: Putnam's 7-stroke edge is the largest third-round lead in tournament
history and is tied for the second-largest in tour history. Steve Wheatcroft
holds the record with an 8-stroke lead after 54 holes of the 2011 Melwood
Prince George's County Open ... With winds predicted to reach up to 45 mph on
Sunday, players will be grouped in threesomes off split tees ... The largest
come-from-behind wins on the final day in tour history were by 10 strokes by
John Flannery at the 1991 Reno Open and by Gary Hallberg at the 2002 Northeast
Pennsylvania Classic.